This invention relates to apparatus for attaching a concrete formwork shoring bracket to a supporting column.
The prior art discloses several means for supporting concrete formwork during the construction of multi-story concrete buildings. Such means for supporting formwork, as used in pouring succeedingly higher floors in concrete buildings, has generally taken the form of fixed or movable scaffolding supported from the floor below upon which the formwork for the next floor is placed. This scaffolding on occasion has been provided with wheels or rollers such that, after completion of the floor for which the formwork has been used, the formwork may be moved laterally to the outside of the building and then raised to be placed in position for the next higher floor.
Other and more convenient means for supporting such concrete formworks are exemplified by column mounted shoring brackets, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,504,879 to Strickland and U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,858 to Mocny et al. With the brackets of these patents, the formwork no longer need be supported by scaffolding which rests upon the floor below and thus restricts working space. Instead, the brackets as disclosed in these patents may be attached to each of a row of supporting columns previously emplaced within the building, the attachment being effected by fastening the brackets onto studs cast into or attached to the columns. The shoring brackets attached to these columns then engage the concrete formwork to be used in constructing the floor above. Each column shoring bracket is vertically adjustable to permit alignment of the formwork. Additionally, the supporting heads of these prior art shoring brackets may be lowered such that the concrete formwork may rest upon a roller carried by the bracket and thus may be rolled out of position. While thse column shoring brackets provide substantial advantages by freeing the floor area beneath the concrete formwork from the clutter of scaffolding, they have suffered from the disadvantage that their only adjustment has been in the vertical direction, with no readily available lateral adjustment for positioning the shoring brackets preselected distances outwardly from the column upon which they are mounted. This lack of lateral adjustment outwardly from the column is a substantial disadvantage when there is misalignment of the columns forming a row upon which column shoring brackets are mounted. To provide the necessary precise lateral adjustment of a row of shoring brackets it has been necessary to use shims between the shoring bracket and the column to which it is mounted. Thus, the achievement of the required precise alignment has necessitated a tedious process of trial and error and has necessitated the availability of a substantial number of shims of varying thicknesses. Additionally, where the misalignment of the columns has been greater than the length of the attaching studs, no practical and relatively universal apparatus for mounting these general types of brackets has been available, other than the structure disclosed in Turner et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,776,499, and that structure may be limited in its utility under certain conditions. Accordingly, there has been a lack of satisfactory apparatus for supporting concrete formwork used in the construction of multi-story concrete buildings.